The present invention relates to error control for communications in general and, in particular, to error control enhancements for satellite communications.
In wireless communications, there are a number of conditions that may impair particular links. These conditions include weather, interference, jamming, and congestion. However, the effects of these conditions may be mitigated by various techniques known in the art, including FEC (Forward Error Correction), interleaving, variable coding and modulation, power control, QoS (Quality of Service), and queuing/scheduling algorithms.
However, in certain instances, there may be conditions that are not sufficiently mitigated by the above listed techniques. For example, in satellite communications, nuclear scintillation and “communications on the move” (COTM) related impairments may result in packet losses or other errors that are not sufficiently cured by such techniques. This may be particularly true in urban areas, where man-made structures (e.g., buildings, bridges, etc.) may impede signals as COTM terminals move about. Such blockages may negatively affect communications performance in terrestrial wireless systems also. There are, thus, a variety of instances when nuclear scintillation, COTM, and other impairments may block or severely degrade signals. It may, therefore, be desirable to identify novel error detection and retransmission strategies in order to address these impairments, and moreover to handle these issues for various types and classes of service.